Friendship and Gratitude
by Shadowrend
Summary: Seeing him being crushed beneath a Tank caused him to lose control.NOT SLASH!


**(A dark swirl appears, thickening to human form.) Shadowrend here! I am officially taking a break from my IZ stories, in order to write a fic about one of my favorite games, **_**Halo.**_** I hope you enjoy, and if you were too stupid to read the summary, I will say it again: THIS IS NOT A SLASH FIC!!! It is only a friendship fic, which is why it is not under romance.**

**I don't own Halo. Bungie and Microsoft do.**

As a Spartan, John was never really taught what emotions meant, or emotions at all. He had seen marines fall in combat, Brutes ripping marines apart, and even Cortana being tortured, but nothing affected him quite like this.

He knew it was practically a suicide mission. Infiltrating a ship that contained the Gravemind and its conscience was impossible. The Flood knew he was there, and the Gravemind's subliminal messages made Master Chief nearly crumple to the ground in pain.

He was willing to go through all of this for Cortana.

He never thought it would end with Cortana in his head, while he was pinned beneath a Tank form.

The whirring sound of an energy sword brought him back to the present, and as the Tank split in half, he looked up.

"Demon…"

He knew that voice. But something was off about the tone. What was it? He had heard the same tone when marines were comforting one another. It was… concern? The Arbiter was _concerned_ for him? The Demon? The one that caused his fall from glory? The Arbiter was concerned for _him_? John knew concern was common among close friends, after all, he wasn't totally ignorant, but he never thought that the Arbiter would ever care about him. He figured they were just two individuals who had been turned into weapons and forced to work together.

Apparently not.

"Arb-Arbiter? Y-you c-c-came f-or m-me? *cough* *cough*"

"Well Demon, if the Flood killed you, I would never have the honor to finish you myself, nor will I do so while you are injured. I will get you out of here. Come, we must leave."

John heard The Arbiter's next words and smiled while his head dropped.

He then blacked out.

* * *

The last he checked, the Arbiter could care less about the Demon called John, or Master Chief.

But this was horrible.

Sangheili warriors respected their comrades, and never left one, alive or dead, behind. To do so was not an insult to the Covenant, but to the Sangheili race itself. Now, the Arbiter respected the Demon beyond the respect he had for his brothers, and as much as he wished he could deny it, he considered the Dem- John, a friend, a companion, and brother.

He guessed surviving a war together did that to you. He remembered when he and John both destroyed the barrier to the Citadel, when they killed the Prophet, and when they escaped from the hordes of Flood together. John was a Demon, yes, but to the Arbiter, he was his brother.

So naturally, seeing a Tank attempting to crush the Master Chief caused him to lose control. Unsheathing his Energy sword, the Arbiter cut off the Tank's arm, before arcing the sword back and cutting the abomination in half. Whilethe Demon's visor was tinted, the Arbiter could clearly see the blood smeared across the inside.

"Demon…"

"Arb-Arbiter? Y-you c-c-came f-or m-me? *cough* *cough*"

The Arbiter visibly winced from hearing the hacking cough. Trying to act nonchalant, he calmly, well, as calmly as he could, responded, "Well Demon, if the Flood killed you, I would never have the honor to finish you myself, nor will I do so while you are injured. I will get you out of here. Come, we must leave."

The Arbiter panicked when the Demons head dropped, but was relieved to her his breathing. When he thought the Demon could not hear him, he said, "Yes, my friend. I came for you." Picking up his fallen comrade, the Arbiter placed him in the passenger seat of the Pelican, while flying to the Dawn.

He couldn't stop the ridiculus smile that speard on his face, because now he had one thing one his mind.

The Demon owed him one.

* * *

When he awoke fully, he immediatly turned to the Arbiter. "Wipe that smirk off your face. I KNOW I owe you one."

"Yes, you do, and now I think I will keep my smirk."

"You're hilarious, you know that?"

"Now I do."

"I heard you on the ship, you know."

"..."

"Did you really mean it?"

"... I suppose so."

"It's just, well, I never really had a friend before, much less a brother, because I was trained to be a lone wolf, so forgive me if I say I don't understand what you mean."

Sighing, the Arbiter turned to look at John before replying, "Well... fighting beside you for so long... I just sort of devolped a bond with you. A bond that made me care about your well being. I suppose you would call it... friendship, maybe brotherhood."

"You know, for a squid, you ain't so bad."

"And for a smelly ape, you aren't so bad either."

"Cheeky bastard."

"Acursed demon."

* * *

**Alright, there you go! R&R, and if I get enough reviews, I'll write a sequel. All I will say is that it will be an AU ending to Halo's final level.**

**Shadows consume,  
****Shadowrend.**


End file.
